COLLEGE BASKETBALL: Princeton women get big boost from Bowen

PRINCETON — While Niveen Rasheed and Lauren Polanksy rightfully get most of the headlines, if this edition of the Princeton Tigers is going to duplicate last season’s success, another senior is going to have a lot to do with it.

Coming into the season, even dedicated Princeton fans probably didn’t know too much about center Meg Bowen, and for good reason — the Bath, Pa., product had spent her career backing up the former All-Ivy first-teamer Devona Allgood. With Allgood graduated, the 6-foot-3 Bowen has finally ascended into the starting lineup.

“She’s critical for us, and that is awesome to say,” Tigers coach Courtney Banghart said at the team’s preseason media day. “For three years, she’s just built day-by-day to be ready for this year.”

Through three games, the transition from role player to major cog has gone smoothly.She’s been particularly aggressive on the offensive end, where her 10.3 points per game are good for second on the team, behind only Rasheed’s 12.7.

“It was definitely exciting; I’ve been working hard for three years to get to this point, but I wouldn’t say that it was too much of an adjustment starting out those first few minutes of the game where Devona used to be,” Bowen said after a recent 46-point victory over Rider. “At no point did I feel like I really needed to be nervous. Look at the four girls I’m surrounded by.”

Because of all that talent on the Tigers’ roster, Bowen spent a lot of time this summer working on making her game more versatile. Naturally most comfortable on the low block, she has developed a midrange jump shot, which allows her to space the floor if one of her teammates has an advantage in the post.

“Niveen is often way stronger and taller than the girl she is guarding, so she can get in there and post up,” Bowen said, also noting that even the 5-foot-8 Polansky can often out-muscle smaller point guards. “If she gets doubled, its nice if I can hit down the shot.”

The one area of her game that hasn’t shown up early has been rebounding. While other Princeton players often are able to swoop in and grab the ball while Bowen focuses on boxing out the other team’s biggest player, she has averaged just two boards per game.

“This is the third game where I’ve looked at my rebounds and not been happy whatsoever,” she said after grabbing just a single rebound against Rider. “I came into the game knowing (Broncs center Caitlin) Bopp was a strong rebounder, so each time a shot goes up and she doesn’t get it, (at least) I’m not giving up offensive rebounds. But yeah, rebounding can definitely go up.”

Bowen wants to improve on that number as the Tigers fly out west for a pair of games(five Princeton players, including both Rasheed and Polansky, hail from the Golden State). On Sunday, the Tigers have a showdown withnationaly-ranked UCLA at Pauley Pavillion.

“Where going in ready to play two pretty good teams,” Bowen said. “It’s a holiday, so you want to go out there and have fun, and winning definitely does a lot more than losing in that respect.”